Paloma loves to eat. In that way, we are very fortunate. It’s quite a rarity for her to turn down food, and she’s always eager to try anything I put in front of her. I’ll never forget an impossibly bitter dandelion smoothie that I made. No one could drink it, except for Paloma, who joyfully slurped down a whole glass. I dearly love to cook and feed people, especially family and friends, and her approval makes me one happy mama.

Our days usually start with me cooking breakfast and impatient Paloma sitting at the kitchen table, spoon in hand, narrating my preparations and hurrying me on. It’s quite humorous. She is not the calmest of children (a little tornado to be exact) and becomes very excited when food is in sight.

This is where the idea for the edible puzzle stemmed from. I imagined a game that would occupy Paloma, and, since she puts everything in her mouth, be safe and tasty to eat. I thought about the obvious educational qualities of puzzles such as teaching about shape, colour, size, structure, and included two more – flavour and nutritional value.

I’ve been on this darn candida cleanse for like 2 weeks now and my son saw me taking some enzymes, probiotics and so on the other day. He must have suddenly had a flashback of that time he was sick last year and got all kinds of fun medicines. He loved it because there was some sweet elderberry liquid stuff AND those sweet homeopathic tablets. He got very excited when he saw the jars, gave me a fake cough and then said he was sick and needed medicine!

SIGH!

I suddenly had an idea.

I got out {of the trash} a liquid supplement jar and cleaned it out really good, taking off the label as well. I then filled it with some flax oil, vita mineral greens, touch of honey {or yacon syrup}, liquid immune support, vitamin D and oil of oregano. Then I added my own label.

Genius, right?! I guess it’s not that ORIGINAL of an idea, remember that song, A Spoon Full Of Sugar Helps The Medicine Go Down…? This idea has been around a long time, I guess. Try it for yourself.

Back in the day, my Japanese mother would pack me a super healthy lunch consisting of a whole-wheat cheese and lettuce sandwich, with tomatoes grown in our garden, accompanied by a flask of freshly squeezed orange juice. Needless to say, I was mortified — longing to be like the other kids in kindergarten who had white spaghetti waffles, green cordial and a packet of Cheetos. But some 30 years on, it looks like Mama knew best after all.